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Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo
Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (Croatian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian: Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Cyrillic script: Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово; Albanian: Krahina Socialiste Autonome e Kosovës) was one of the two socialist autonomous areas of the Socialist Republic of Serbia incorporated into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1974 until 1990. It was a predecessor of the modern day Kosovo. History The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija received more and more autonomy and self-government within Serbia and Yugoslavia during the 1970s, and its name was officially changed in 1974 to Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo ("and Metohija" was removed because it was not used by the Kosovo Albanians and "Socialist" added to further show the Socialist ideal of then's SFRY) as per the Constitutions of SFRY and SR Serbia, when SAP Kosovo also gained its own Constitution. The Province of Kosovo gained the highest officials, most notably Presidency and Government, and gained a seat in the Federal Yugoslavian Presidency (including veto power on the federal level) which equated it to the states of SR Serbia. The local Albanian-dominated ruling class had been asking for recognition of Kosovo as a parallel republic to Serbia within the Federation, and after Tito’s death in 1980, the demands were renewed. In March of 1981 Albanian students protested demanding independence of Kosovo. Subsequently the situation rapidly escalated into extremely violent mass-riots across the province that spread across 6 major Kosovo cities and included over 20,000 Albanian dissidents. The Yugoslav authorities harshly prosecuted and contained the civil unrest. Emigration of non-Albanians increased and ethnic tensions between Albanians and non-Albanians greatly increased, with violent inner-attacks, especially aimed at the Yugoslavian officials and representatives of authority. Slobodan Milošević became the leader of the Serbian communists in 1986, and then seized control over Kosovo and Vojvodina. This can especially be seen in the 1987 rift in Kosovo, which became the final turnout of possibilities of peace between Albanians and Yugoslavia. On 28 June 1989, Milošević led a mass celebration with hundreds of thousands (almost one million) Serbs in Gazimestan on the 600th anniversary of a 1389 Battle of Kosovo. Milošević's Gazimestan speech, which marked the beginning of his political prominence, was an important part of the events that contributed to the ongoing crisis in Kosovo. The ensuing Serbian nationalist movement was also a contributing factor to the Yugoslav Wars. In 1989, Milošević revoked the autonomy of Kosovo, returning it to the pre-1971 Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija status, which was passed by the Kosovo Parliament on 28 September of 1990. In 2008 Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. As of July 11, 2009, 62 out of 192 sovereign United Nations member states have formally recognized the Republic of Kosovo. Serbia still considers Kosovo as part of its sovereign territory. Demographics According to the 1981 census (the only census taken during the existence of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo), the population of the province numbered 1,584,441 people, including: * 1,226,736 Albanians (77.4%) * 236,526 Serbs (14.9%) * 58,562 Muslims (3.7%) * 34,126 Roms (2.2%) * 12,513 Turks (0.8%) * 8,717 Croats (0.6%) * 2,676 Yugoslavs (0.2%) * 4,584 others (0.2%) Politics The only political party in the province was League of Communists of Kosovo, which was part of the League of Communists of Serbia and part of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. The Constitution of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo was the highest juridical act of the province. Heads of Institutions Prime Ministers Chairman of the Executive Council of the People's Committee of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo: *Fadil Hoxha, 1945 - 1953 Chairmen of the Executive Council of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo: *Fadil Hoxha, 1953 - 1963 *Ali Shukri, 1963 - May 1967 *Ilija Vakić, May 1967 - May 1974 *Bogoljub Nedeljković, May 1974 - May 1978 *Bahri Oruçi, May 1978 - May 1980 *Riza Sapindžija, May 1980 - May 1982 *Imer Pula, May 1982 - 5 May 1984 *Ljubomir Neo Borković, 5 May 1984 - May 1986 *Namzi Mustafa, May 1986 - 1987 *Kaqusha Jashari, 1987 - May 1989 *Nikolla Shkreli, May 1989 - 1989 *Daut Jashanica, 1989 *Jusuf Zejnullahu, 4 December 1989 - 5 July 1990 Presidents Chairman of the People's Liberation Committee of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo: *Mehmed Hoxha, 1 January 1944 - 11 July 1945 Presidents of the Assembly of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo: *Fadil Hoxha, 11 July 1945 - 20 February 1953; 24 June 1967 - 7 May 1969 *Ismet Saqiri, 20 February 1953 - 12 December 1953 *Đorđije Pajković, 12 December 1953 - 5 May 1956 *Pavle Jovićević, 5 May 1956 - 4 April 1960 *Dusan Mugoša, 4 April 1960 - 18 June 1963 *Stanoje Akšić, 18 June 1963 - 24 June 1967 *Ilaz Kurteshi, 7 May 1969 - May 1974 Presidents of Presidency of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo: *Xhavit Nimani, March 1974 - 1981 *Ali Shukriu, August 1981 - 1982 *Kolë Shiroka, 1982 - May 1983 *Shefqet Nebih Gashi, May 1983 - May 1985 *Branislav Skembarević, May 1985 - May 1986 *Bajram Selani, May 1986 - May 1988 *Remzi Kolgeci, May 1988 - 5 April 1989 *Hysen Kajdomçaj, 27 June 1989 - 11 April 1990 See also *Kosovo *Vojvodina *SAP Vojvodina *History of Kosovo *Constitutional status of Kosovo *Socialist Republic of Serbia *Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia External links *(Albanian) Constitution of Kosovo (1974) *Constitutions of Kosovo Category:History of Kosovo Category:Second Yugoslavia Kosovo bg:Автономна област Косово cs:Socialistická autonomní oblast Kosovo es:Provincia autónoma socialista de Kosovo hr:Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo it:Provincia Socialista Autonoma del Kosovo mk:Социјалистичка Автономна Покраина Косово nl:Socialistische Autonome Provincie Kosovo ja:コソボ社会主義自治州 pl:Socjalistyczna Prowincja Autonomiczna Kosowo pt:Província Socialista Autónoma do Kosovo ro:Provincia Socialistă Autonomă Kosovo sq:Krahina Socialiste Autonome e Kosovës sr:Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово sh:Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo zh:科索沃社会主义自治省